Ice show brings love to Norfolk

NORFOLK  A love for the ice and well-practiced routines are what more than 50 skaters brought to the Dominic Zappia Community Ice Skating Center on Sunday afternoon for the Norfolk-Norwood Figure Skating Clubs 30th annual Ice Show.

The bleachers were full as the national anthem sounded the 1 p.m. start of the show.

Skaters of all ages, in synchronized teams and as soloists, rocked out to different songs in keeping with this years theme, All You Need Is Love.

Kathy J. Hasenauer, Norfolk, the mother of one of the skating soloists, Rebecca Hasenauer, was in charge of playing the music during the show. She said the clubs board of directors votes on a theme for each years show, and this year it chose love.

The songs have to have love, hugs or kisses in the title, she said.

The skating club also served concessions and raffled off gift baskets donated by area businesses to raise money for the club.

We just kind of go all out for the end of the year, said Tonya M. Young, president of the figure skating club. We are a small community, so its pretty exciting to know that for the two small towns together, were able to keep this club running and successful. Some of the skaters and parents are from other, bigger clubs and have seen other clubs and activities like this, so whats most exciting is when you get compliments from them when were just a small club.

Michael M. Bartow, Potsdam, is the assistant coach for many of the soloists and two of the synchronized teams that performed, the Ice Angels of the St. Lawrence Figure Skating Club and the Rainbow Connection of the Potsdam Figure Skating Club.

I love this show because it gives a good opportunity for the skaters to perform what theyve learned throughout the year, challenge themselves in front of a home crowd and just have a lot of fun with what they do, Mr. Bartow said.

Aly B. Tarner, a 15-year-old from Hermon, is one of the 11 synchronized skaters in Rainbow Connection, and has been skating and performing in shows for half of her life.

When I first started skating in the ice shows, it was nerve-racking, but now that Ive done it for so many years, its just kind of a normal thing, she said.

Nikola J. Wolfes solo had many in the stands singing along to Let It Go, the Oscar-winning song from the Disney movie Frozen.

The 21-year-old from Russell has been skating for 14 years and is now a senior at Clarkson University, Potsdam.

Ive always loved ice shows because it brings all of the clubs together, she said. Its a big community builder.

Commenting rules:

Stick to the topic of the article/letter/editorial.

When responding to issues raised by other commenters, do not engage in personal attacks or name-calling.

Comments that include profanity/obscenities or are libelous in nature will be removed without warning.

Violators' commenting privileges may be revoked indefinitely. By commenting you agree to our full Terms of Use.